Tilers in Croydon.

Pricing is set by each tiler and agreed before work starts, so the figure on the profile is the figure you book at. As a guide drawn from the wider London market, a full bathroom retile with walls and floor combined and mid-range tiles supplied typically lands between £1,800 and £3,500. Labour-only rates usually run from £45 to £65 per square metre, and a kitchen splashback behind the hob is more often a £250 to £450 job. The tiles themselves are the biggest swing. Porcelain costs more than ceramic, large-format and mosaic both push the labour rate up because of the extra setting-out and cutting, and natural stone needs sealing on top. Croydon's housing adds its own variables. A compact bathroom in a 1930s Purley semi tiles up quickly, while a knocked-through bathroom in a tall Edwardian terrace in Addiscombe or South Norwood can involve more wall preparation and awkward access that affects the day count. The honest way to read any guide range is as a starting point. Once a tiler has seen the room, measured the area and checked the substrate, the agreed price reflects your actual job rather than an average.

Because the borough's housing stock is so mixed, the surface behind the tiles varies a lot from one street to the next, and that surface is where most of the real work hides. The Victorian and Edwardian terraces and conversions across Addiscombe, Thornton Heath, Selhurst and Norbury often have older lath-and-plaster or previously patched walls that aren't flat, so a good tiler will check for movement, damp and soundness, and may need to overboard or re-skim before tiling. The interwar and 1930s semis around Purley, Coulsdon, Sanderstead and Shirley tend to have more consistent walls but can still throw up render that needs making good, especially in bathrooms added or reconfigured over the years. Post-war flats around central Croydon and New Addington bring their own quirks, from blockwork to existing tiling that may or may not be sound to tile over. None of this is a problem in itself, it just means the prep stage carries real weight here. The single most useful thing you can do is mention the property type and roughly when the room was last done when you book, so the tiler arrives expecting the right substrate and brings the correct primer, boards and adhesive for it.

Most do, and for any tiled shower or wet room it genuinely matters. Tiles and grout aren't waterproof on their own, so a proper tanking system, which is a waterproof membrane applied to the walls and floor, goes on before the tiling starts. Skip it and water finds its way into the wall or down through the floor over time, which in a period terrace can mean damaged plaster on the room below and in a 1930s semi can mean rot in timber floors. For a standard shower enclosure the membrane is straightforward for an experienced tiler. For a full wet room with a level floor and a linear drain, the work is more involved because the floor has to be formed to fall towards the drain and fully tanked. If you want a wet room rather than a standard bathroom, say so when you book and confirm the tiler has done the specific membrane and drainage system you're planning. It's reasonable to ask to see photos of similar wet rooms they've completed. Since tiling carries no statutory licensing, that hands-on track record and their public liability cover are your best signals of someone who waterproofs properly rather than cutting the corner.

For a typical Croydon bathroom, think in terms of several working days rather than a single visit, and plan to use another bathroom or make other arrangements while it runs. A common shape for the work is one day to strip the old tiles and prep the walls and floor, time for the floor to be laid and set, a couple of days for the wall tiling, then a final visit to grout, silicone and finish off. The exact span depends on the room. A small, simple bathroom in a Purley or Coulsdon semi sits at the shorter end, while a larger or more complicated layout in an Edwardian terrace, or anything that needs extra wall preparation first, runs longer. Wet rooms take longer again, because the floor has to be formed and the tanking left to cure before any tiling begins. Drying and curing times are part of the schedule rather than wasted days, so a tiler who builds them in is doing the job properly. When you book, ask for a rough day count for your specific room, and mention if you've only got one bathroom so the work can be sequenced to keep the disruption as short as it reasonably can be.

Start with the basics on the profile. Look for hands-on tiling experience, recent reviews from other Croydon customers and confirmation of public liability cover, since tiling has no statutory licence to fall back on. Photos of completed work tell you a lot, particularly if you can see jobs similar to yours, whether that's a full bathroom, a wet room, a floor or a splashback. When you send your request or book a visit, describe the room clearly. Say what you want tiled, the rough size, the property type and age, and whether the existing tiles are coming off or you're tiling over. If it's a shower or wet room, flag that early so the waterproofing is priced in from the start. Mention anything awkward, such as a small space, an upstairs bathroom in a terrace with tricky access, or a tight deadline. The more the tiler knows before arriving, the more accurate the agreed price will be and the fewer surprises crop up mid-job. Because prices are set by each tiler and agreed before work starts, you're never locked in until you've got a figure you're happy with and a clear idea of what's included.